After suffering their first loss of the season against a well-balanced Hillsborough squad, OP Hoops hosted an in-conference matchup against the Roselle Rams. Considering the teams sat at opposite ends of the table — with Oratory standing in first place as the only undefeated team in the conference and Roselle down as the last-ranked team in the Mountain division — it is fair to say the Rams were heavy favorites entering the matchup. However, nothing would prepare the fans in attendance for the blowout that was about to transpire. From the opening tip, the Rams dominated with a fast-paced style of play that led to capitalization on transition opportunities. A fair majority of these opportunities were created by junior guard Max Cook, who contributed a multitude of steals leading to a plethora of fast break points. Senior John Pirone also caused turnovers on various instances and commanded the flow of the game throughout Quarter 1. At the end of the first quarter, Cook tallied 11 points and pitched in multiple assists to establish Oratory’s 17-point lead. The narrative of forced turnovers leading to points on the other end would continue throughout the 2nd quarter, while perimeter jumpers began to fall. Scoring from Max Cook, Asher Bradley, Nick Servitto, and Patrick Coniff would make up a 20-5 run in the 2nd quarter to firmly place OP in the lead. Arguably the most exciting moment came in the final seconds of the first half when Max Cook converted on a buzzer-beating 3 to put Oratory up by a dominant score of 43-11. The corner 3 to end the half would be Cook’s 21st and final points — he impressively ended as the game-leading scorer with points only coming in the first two quarters. With a 32-point lead coming out of the locker room, Union County rules would kick in and the clock would remain running for the entirety of the 2nd half, even during dead balls and free throws. Despite the limited time, Pirone, Conniff, and Henry Bolster would connect from 3 during the 3rd quarter. With 4:06 remaining in the quarter, Asher Bradley would breeze past the defense to get to the rim and draw a foul. Understandably irritated by the deficit, a Roselle defender made some questionable comments to Bradley after having no answer for him all night, and was thus given a technical foul. By the time all the free throws and substitutions were made after the foul/technical, over a minute and a half of time ticked off during what would typically be a stopped clock. As a result, there was a sudden end to the 3rd quarter to serve as damage control for a game that read 60-17 on the scoreboard with one quarter to play. In the fourth, players who have received a lack of playing time so far this year had a chance to exhibit their scoring capabilities. This was certainly true in the case of Cole Schickling, who hit back-to-back threes as his first points of the year. Leading JV scorer, Ryan Fay, also knocked one down from behind the arc after Jalen Brogdon and Will Kostka asserted their interior presence to score from the paint. The final score displayed an astonishing 54-point differential, with OP winning 73-19. That means if all Oratory points were discredited after the first quarter, the Rams still would have won by 4. The player of the game chain was awarded to Max Cook (21 points); John Pirone had a season-low 14 and yet was still the Rams second-leading scorer. OP will next face SPF on the road on January 6th.
